Floor furnace



May 26, 1942. B. F. STEPHENS 2,284,542

FLOOR FURNACE Filed Nov. 22, 19`4o Patented May 26, 1942 Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLOOR FURNACE Benjamin F. Stephens, Tulsa, Okla.

Application November 22, 1940, Serial No. 366,562

2 Claims.`

This invention relates to furnaces, particularly of the type known as floor furnaces which are suspended beneath the oor of a dwelling for heating the same.

One of the purposes of this invention is to provide a furnace of this type which will provide a positive blower-induced air circulation by which the cold air is drawn downwardly from the dwelling into the furnace where it is heated and from whence it is then returned by means of the blower into the dwelling for heating purposes.

Another feature of my invention resides in its water-tight construction. which obviates the employment of pans or concrete pits, and enables the furnace to operate when surrounded by water as well as under dry conditions.

Another advantageous feature is that the combustion chamber and heating units are capable oi' removal through the iioor opening so as to permit access to the interior of the furnace from the top. This feature of removability enables the unit to be repaired or replaced, and also permits access to the burners for purposes of repair or replacement.

Another advantageous feature which contributes toward economy in manufacture and eiliciency in operation is found in the arrangement l of the various parts within the casing. The air circulating blowers and the driving motor therefor are mounted in the bottom of the casing where they are solidly supported so as to obviate vibration and noise and are adapted to deliver the air to be heated below the heating units so that greatest heating efiiciency will be obtained as the air travels upwardly around the units. This location of the blowers and motor in the bottom of the casing is possible only by reason of my watertight casing, which prevents access of vsurrounding water to the motor and blowers which otherwise during certain seasons of the year would be submerged.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved furnace, the top grill being removed to expose the underlying structure and parts; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing more in detail, reference character 5 indicates generally a casing made preferably of sheet metal, the casing being rectangular in shape and comprising vertical side walls and a closed bottom wall 6. The upper ends of the side walls are ilanged outwardly, as indicated at l, to overly the floor l or the supports therefor of the dwelling, said floor being provided with an opening through which the casing may be lowered into position where it is suspended, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

rIhe casing is provided at one end with an air inlet opening covered by a grill 9 and at its opposite end with outlet nues Il leading to a common stack (not shown) to which the products of combustion are delivered. The open"top of the casing is normally covered by a removable grill I2.

The air inlet opening communicates with a conduit I3 providing a passage for the air which is delivered to the burners for combustion purposes. This conduit extends downwardly along the end wall of the casing and then inwardly along the bottom of the casing where its inner, upwardly extending end wall I4, together with the top wall of the passage provided with a suitable opening, carry a supporting and sealing seat I5 upon which the lower end of the rectangular combustion chamber I6 is removably seated.

The fuel supply pipe I1 for the burners I8 located in the lower portion of the combustion chamber is located within the conduit I3, as is also the pipe for supplying the pilot burner (not shown). Fuel is supplied to these pipes from any suitable source through a supply pipe I9 and is controlled by suitable valves provided with extension rods 2l by which the valves may be adjusted from above upon removal of the grill I2.

The heating unit for the furnace comprises the combustion chamber I6 beforementioned, and a pair of radiating units 22 disposed on opposite sides of the combustion chamber and communicating therewith near their upper ends through short fiues 23. The combustion chamber is preferably provided with a transversely extending vane or deflector 24, and the heating units are equipped with similar but wider vanes or deectors 25 to serve as baflles for the products of combustion before they escape into the outlet nues II through the discharge lues 26 located near the bottoms of the respective heating elements or radiators. To prevent heat radiation through the side walls of the casing, a sheet metal box-like, open-ended housing 21 surrounds the heating unit and is spaced a short distance from the side walls of the casing by be- 2 aaa-1,5m

ing shaped to provide at each corner a spacing projection 23, as shown in Fig. 1. The transverse wall 29 of this housing forms a partition wall dividing the casing into two compartments, one containing the heating unit consisting of the combustion chamber and the radiators, and the other containing the circulating apparatus which will be later described. 'Ihe top of the combustion chamber is provided with an opening normally closed by a cover 3|, removal of which affords access to the interior'of the combustion chamber for burner lighting purposes.

Above the air passage i3 at the right hand side of the partition 29, as shown in the drawing, is mounted an electric motor 32, the shaft 33 of which carries at each end the rotor of a fan or blower of any suitable type. In the present instance, the blowers are illustrated as being of the sirocco type, the blade assemblies of which are carried by the spokes 3l mounted upon the motor shaft. The blower housings 35 within which the rotors operate are of the center-intake-opening type, and the discharge conduit from each blower is divided by a curved wall 36 so as to provide an upwardly opening discharge at 31 and a horizontally opening discharge at 38., The air delivered by the blowers is thereby divided into two streams, one being directed upwardly against and around the radiators 22, and

the other horizontally along the bottom of the casing, and thence upwardly around the heating unit and also into the space between the casing wall and the housing 21 to maintain a circulation in this space which reduces the heat radiation through the casing Walls.

One or more of the side walls of the casing is provided with a screened opening 39 adaptedto be wholly or partially closed by a slide or shutter 4I mounted in suitable guideways by which the amount of outside air entering the casing may be regulated. In Warm weather, these shutters may be left wide open, and the blowers may be operated so as to draw in the cool air from beneath the building and discharge it upwardly into the dwelling for cooling and air circulating purposes. Suitable thermostats 42 included in the wiring circuit for the motor serve to start the motor automatically when the temperature surrounding the heating unit reaches a predetermined height and also stop the motor when the heat is shut off. A lter 43 is preferably located in the compartment above the blowers for filtering and cleaning the air drawn :from the dwelling downwardly into the furnace by the blowers.

In the operation of my improved furnace, the combustion chamber and radiators are heated by the burners, and when a predetermined temperature has been reached, the blowers are automatically started, thereby drawing air downwardly through theV iilter 43 at one side of the partition 29, and discharging this air at the other side of said partition where it passes upwardly around the combustion chamber and the radiators by which it becomes heated and is 'then discharged upwardly through the grill into the dwelling to be heated. 'Ihe fuel to the burners may be controlled manually or automatically as desired, and fresh air in any quantities may be admitted from the outside atmosphere to the screened openings 39. The heating unit may be locked in position by any suitable fastening means, which when released will permit the unit including the combustion chamber and the radiators to be lifted out of the top of the casing, thereby aording access to the burners for `repair orreplacement purposes.

The structural details illustrated and described may obviously be varied within considerable limits within the scope of my invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

l. In a oor furnace, the combination of a casing having vertical side walls and a closedi bottom, one of said walls being provided remote from thejjbottom with an air supply opening, a conduit extending from said opening downwardly within the casing and inwardly along said bottcm and opening upwardly at its delivery end, a combustion chamber with which said conduit communicates, means for heating said chamber, heat radiating elements connected with and disposed laterally of the combustion chamber, a vertical partition dividing said casing into two compartments, a motor mounted in one of said compartments upon the horizontal portion of said conduit below the level of said air supply opening, a pair of blowers connected to the motor and located on opposite sides of said air supply conduit, and discharge conduits for said blowers extending through said partition on op-` posite sides of said air supply conduit, each of said discharge conduits having an upwardly opening outlet beneath a radiating element so as to deliver air against said element and having a horizontally opening outlet for delivering air along the bottom of said casing, the delivered air being discharged from the furnace through the open top thereof.

2. In a floor furnace, the combination of a casing having vertical side walls and a closed bottom, one of said Walls being provided with an air inlet opening remote from the bottom, the casing being water tight below said opening, a partition wall dividing said casing into two compartments, a combustion chamber located in one of said compartments, heat radiating elements disposed laterally of, spaced from, and communicating with said combustion chamber, a conduit for conducting air from said inlet opening downwardly and thence along the bottom of the other compartment and through said partition to said combustion chamber, a motor located in the compartment through which said conduit extends and mounted above the conduit below the level of said air supply opening, a pair of blowers connected with the motor Kand disposed at opposite sides of said conduit, and delivery conduits for said blowers extending through said partition and terminating beneath said heat radiating elements, each conduit havmg an upwardly opening delivery outlet for directing air against a heating element and a horizontally opening delivery outlet for delivering air along the bottom of said casing.

BENJAMIN F. STEPHENS. 

